Fathi schuyleb van bloem



P. S. VAN BLOEM.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED AR. 9, 19:1.

Patented July 29, 1919] PAUB SGEUYLER VAN BLOEM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ILLUMINATED SIGN.

Application filed April 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL SCHUYLER FAN "BLOEM, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Illuminated Signs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to illuminated signs, and particularly to that type in which an opaque sign board or panel is provided with transparent or translucent letters or sign characters illuminated from the back preferably by artificial light.

The objects of the invention are to provide a letter or sign character which is so formed as to transmit to and concentrate at art1cu lar points on the front or side sur aces of the letter, the highest percentage of light, thus providing an intense illumination at the points desired, conforming to the strokes or configuration of the character so that'the same shall be more readily legible, not only from directly in front but also from the greatest angle possible. I,

Another object is to produce, by so forming the character, high lights and brilllant edges or configurations, to give leglblllty, beauty, variety and changeable effects.

Another object of the invention is to improve the construction and mounting of the character so as to reduce the expense of manufacture and increase the strength and durability of the structure, and operate the sign in a most economical manner.

Still another object of the invention is to produce a sign character capable of being duo or multicolored, according to the angles from which it is viewed.

While illustrated as applied to lettered signs, theidea is obviously applicable in a similar manner to various characters, symbols, signals, and emblems commonly used on signs and bulletins.

Y In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the letter H mounted in position in a sign board or panel;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof on the line z-z of Fig. 1, showing one position of a light behind the letter;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line w-a: of Fig. 1.;

Specification of Letters I'atent.

1917. Serial No.160,783. 1

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation ofthe same letter of the device;

Fig. 5 is an exaggerated form of letter face similar to Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a section similar to Figs. 3 and 5, showing another modified form and Fig. 7 is another modification, introducing a colored medium between the back of the letter and the light source.

First referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, '11 represents an opaque sign board or panel which has an opening conforming to the outline of a letter or other character or symbol. In the case illustrated, this opening is in the form of the letter H.

Held by clips 12 at. the back of the panel 11 is the translucent or transparent character element. This consists preferably of a plate 13 of substantially larger superficial area than the entire letter or character, and

Patented July 29, 1919. I

is provided with a flat or plane back. The

. in the sign board or panel 11 to receive it.

In the example shown in Figs. 1 to 4', the relief portion which forms the letter has, when vlewed in transverse section, straight parallel sides 14 and a gradually rounded front 15. The lamp which produces the illumination is generally indicated by the numeral 16 and a plane reflector 17 is preferably placed back of this lamp parallel to the sign board 11, though accurate parallelism is not essential.

As has been noted the-back of plate 13 is flat, and the projecting sides 14 of the letter or character are parallel to each other and in consequence also perpendicular 'to the back of plate 13. These features so coordinated are important.

Rays of light aa reaching the back of plate 13 beyond the critical angle will be reflected from the back surface and will not penetrate the body of the letter or character. All other rays will penetrate the body of the letter or character but will be at such angles as to be refracted or reflected to the extreme front or tip thereof.

This is made clear in diagram in Figs. 2 and 3. Rays bb entering and leaving normal to the surfaces of the letter or character will not be refracted. Certain other rays c(' proceeding either direct or by way of reflector 17 from the light to the letter or character will be refracted, but will pass through the front face of the letter. Such rays da as enter from mgreat angle and hence reach the sides 14: of the letter or character are beyond the critical angle with these surfaces and hence are totally reflected and emerge through the tip of the letter or character section.

The conjoint effect of the extended fiat back and parallel sides is to concentrate the light at the front of the letter or character. The effect can be varied somewhat by varying the depth of the relief of the letter or character and a deep character such as shown in Fig. 5 is often very effective. .Another mode of varying the effect is to vary the curvature of the front ti of the character, that in Figs. 1 to 4, having a rather fiat curved front and that in Fig. 5 being more sharply rounded.

In Fig. 6 I show a fragmentary cross-section of a part of a letter or character in which a stepped configuration is used. Here the front faces 18 are illuminated and the side faces 19 are dark so that the characters when viewed from the side would have'a striped or striated appearance. The light rays are shown in diagram and the reference letters are applied as in connection with the preceding figures.

Fig. 7 shows another letter or character section in fragmentary cross section. This character has two pairs of parallel faces 20 and 21 and a rounded tip 22. The reverse curves or fillets connecting the surfaces 20 and 21 provide secondary lobes or ribs 23. The ribs 23 and tip 22 are the oints at which the light concentrates, again giving a striated effect. In this instance the striations are not so sharply defined as are those of the section shown in Fig. 6.

lVith all the various types of letter or character included within the scope of my invention I contemplate the use of particolored screens in which the diversely colored parts may conform generally to the letter or character forms with which they are used. To avoid confusion I have omitted such screens from all the figures except Fig. 7. Here the differently colored parts of the screen are indicated by different hatching at 24:, 25 and 26. As the letter Or character is viewed from different angles the various colors will be variously blended thus giving unusual color effects particularly useful for advertising signs.

\Vhile I show an individual light centered behind the letter or character in Figs. 2 and 3 it is perfectly feasible to use a bank of lamps or a row of lamps or any other similar arrangement. The invention obviously is applicable to letters, characters, numbers and symbols of various kinds used in signs and the words letter and character are used in the specification and claims in this broad and inclusive sense.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is 1. A sign comprising in combination an opaque board or screen having an opening conforming in outline to a sign character; a light source placed behind said board; a plate of translucent refractive material placed behind said board and extending beyond the margins of the opening therein, said plate being formed with a continuous plane rear surface and bearing in relief on its front surface said character projecting through and filling said opening, the projecting sides of said character being substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rear surface of said plate, and the front surface of said relief portion being formed to give a concentrated refraction of the light in one or more lines conforming to said character.

2. A sign comprising in combination an opaque board or screen having an opening conforming in outline to a sign character; a light source placed behind said board; a plate of translucent refractive material placed behind said board and extending beyond the margins of the opening therein, said plate being formed with a continuous plane rear surface and bearing in relief on its front surface said sign character projecting through and .filling said opening, the projecting sides of said character bein substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rear surface of said plate, and the front surface of said relief portion being formed with a rounded contour producing, by refraction, a concentration of light in a line conforming to the character.

3. A sign comprising in combination an opaque board or screen having an opening conforming in outline to a sign character; a light source placed behind said board; a plate of translucent refractive material placed behind said board and extending beyond the margins of the opening therein, said plate being formed with a continuous plane rear surface and'bearing in relief on its front surface said character projecting through and filling said opening, the projecting sides of said character being substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rear surface of said plate, and the front surface of said relief portion being formed with one or more rounded or lobelike portions producing, by refraction, concentration of light in lines conforming to the character.

4. A sign comprising in combination an opaque board or screen having an opening conforming in outline to a sign character; a light source placed behind said board; a plate of translucent refractive material placed behind said board and extending beyond the margins of the opening therein, said plate being formed with a continuous plane rear surface and bearing in relief on its front surface said character projecting through and filling said opening, the projecting sides of said character being substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rear surface of said plate, and the front surface of said relief portion being formed with a rounded contour producing by refraction, a concentration of light in a line conforming to the character; and a particolored screen interposed between the light source and said character so formed in relief on said plate.

5. A sign comprising in combination an opaque board or screen having an opening conforming in outline to a sign character; a light source placed behind said board; a plate of translucent refractive niaterial placed behind said board and extending beyond the margins of the opening therein, said plate being formed with a continuous plane rear surface and bearing in relief on its front surface said character projecting &

through and filling said opening, the projecting sides of said character being substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rear surface of said plate, and the front surface of said relief portion being formed with one or more rounded or lobe-like portions producing, by refraction, concentration of light in lines conforming to the character; and a particolored screen interposed between the light source and said character so formed in relief on said plate.

6. A sign character adapted for illuminated signs, comprising a' continuous plate of translucent material having dimensions exceeding the over all dimensions of said character, said plate having a plane rear surface, and bearing on its front surface such character in relief, said relief port-ion having parallel sides of considerable extent perpendicular to said rear surface of the plate for directing light by total reflection to the front surface of said relief portion.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

PAUL SCHUYLER VAN BLOEM. 

